Tag Archives: housework

This past week I organized a viewing party for the Olympics. On the menu that evening: Pizza. Regular pizza nights have become a tradition in my house over the last year, ever since acquiring a pizza stone that helps the crusts of our pies bake evenly and all the way through. Each gathering is a bit of a potluck—guests bring toppings for a pie, or a salad, beverage, or dessert.

We were all glued to the TV during Shaun White’s time on the half-pipe—and his ultimate defeat—but it was really the pizzas that stole the show that night. We had fresh pineapple and prosciutto, roasted cauliflower and caramelized onion, and even a bacon-apple-rosemary pie. I had a big slice of each one, which seemed like a good idea in the moment. (An hour later, I was still in the same place on the couch.)

The pizza was good, but it came at a cost of around 224 calories a slice, or 672 calories for 3 slices. Yikes! That was definitely more of a meal than I’d been hoping for.

There is a growing body of evidence that suggests sitting for long periods of time is unhealthy, if not deadly. Heart disease, obesity, and depression are just a few consequences of inactivity, and in most cases, these conditions could be prevented if our bodies were a little more active.

It is hard not to wonder what kind of harmful effects sitting in meditation might be doing to our health. If stiff knees and a tight lower back weren’t painful enough, the thought of damaging your health while trying to gain inner peace seems blatantly counterproductive.

For those who have a sedentary job, or are addicted to the television set, practicing a form of active meditation instead of the classic seated meditation might be a better option.

The following suggestions will promote health by getting your body moving while still enjoying the mental, emotional, and spiritual benefits of meditation. (more…)

Are you looking for an excuse to not do your housework? Well, a new study says that it may be hazardous to your health.

According to the study, cleaning as little as once a week with common cleaning sprays and air fresheners could raise the risk of asthma in adults. Other studies have linked these products with increased asthma rates among cleaning professionals, but now it’s implied that it can put others at risk.

Weekly exposure to such cleaning materials could account for as many as one in seven adult asthma cases, the researchers wrote in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

“Frequent use of household cleaning sprays may be an important risk factor for adult asthma,” says Jan-Paul Zock, an epidemiologist at the Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology in Barcelona, who led the study.

The most unfortunate part of the study was a lack of an alternative. Here’s the depressing catch-22: You keep a clean house, you may become asthmatic. You don’t clean enough, then the dust will get you.

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